1. Field of the Invention
The subject matter described herein relates generally to devices and methods for position sensing and, more particularly, to devices and methods for sensing the position of contacts.
2. Related Art
Various contact position sensors are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,907,267 describes photoelectric reflective object sensors mounted in an exteriorly mounted auxiliary switch case to detect, through a housing, a member on a movable contact assembly of the contactor to produce logic level output signals indicative of the operational state of the contactor electromagnet. One or a pair of photoelectric sensors is used in a side mounted auxiliary switch to detect the contactor movable contact assembly in the energized or de-energized position, or en route between the two positions.
The use of photoelectric reflective object sensors has been found to significantly increase cost and leads to high inaccuracy of the position sensing. Accordingly, to date, no suitable device or method of sensing a position of a contact is available.